Matthew
16:13-20 KJV When Jesus came into the coasts of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that
I the Son of man am? (14) And they said, Some say that thou
art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the
prophets. (15) He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I
am? (16) And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. (17) And Jesus answered
and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
(18) And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. (19) And I will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven. (20) Then charged he his disciples that
they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
The disciples came to a very
crucial and significant point in their walks with Jesus.
- One of them received a direct
revelation from the Father.
- Peter realized who Jesus was.
Then Jesus said "AND I SAY ALSO
UNTO THEE."
- The SON was going to give a
revelation now.
- This revelation was linked to
the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
- It would render Peter some
power and authority in the KINGDOM.
Jesus also spoke of building his
church like a house on the Rock.
- The GATES OF THE GRAVE would
not prevail against it.
He said things later on which
actually bring out the full meaning of this gates of the grave issue.
But notice here that after Jesus
commented on Peter's revelation from the Father, we read none of them
were to rob others of that experience.
- They very thing the Father
told Peter was what Jesus did not want them to tell others.
- HIS IDENTITY.
(16)
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God.
(20) Then charged he his
disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
Obviously He wanted others to get a
revelation from God about this as well.
Then Jesus begins to speak some
words he never revealed to them before.
- It's as though He waited for
them to get this revelation from the Father first concerning His
identity so He could then proceed to tell them the next one from
Himself.
Matthew
16:21-22 KJV From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his
disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things
of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be
raised again the third day. (22) Then Peter took him, and
began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not
be unto thee.
Distinguishing that precise point
in their walks with Him, when Peter got a direct revelation from God,
we read FROM THAT TIME FORTH.
And Peter fights this second
revelation.
- It is a revelation of how he
must suffer, die and rise again.
- Peter obviously missed the
revelation because had he realized a resurrection was involved, he
would not have been worried about the suffering and dying.
- But in that self-preserving
style, Peter only heard about the suffering and the dying and missed
the rest.
Peter was not telling Jesus to
refuse to experience this for Jesus' sake, but FOR HIMSELF and his own
neck.
Notice that Jesus spoke of building
His Church on the Rock.
Who is the rock?
1
Corinthians 3:11 KJV For other foundation can no man lay than
that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Some think it is Peter, but Peter
himself said:
1
Peter 2:6-7 KJV Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture,
Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he
that believeth on him shall not be confounded. (7) Unto you
therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be
disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner,
There is something special about
the RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND THE ROCK UPON WHICH THE CHURCH
IS BUILT.
- Any house is only as stable
as the foundation upon which it is built.
- A house on sand falls and a
house on rock stands.
- The FOUNDATION'S nature
affects the house which is built upon it.
- The house is not its own
stabilizing factor.
- The foundation is.
- A house is no better than its
foundation.
- And Jesus was giving a
revelation OF HIS CHURCH -- HIS BRIDE -- coming into a special UNION
with Him where HIS QUALITIES ARE SHARED BY HIS CHURCH.
And for Him to speak of the church
on the rock as well as THE GATES OF HELL NOT PREVAILING AGAINST THAT
CHURCH, we see that a note of DEATH and RESURRECTION is involved in all
of this.
HELL, when translated from the
Greek term GEHENNA, means fire and suffering and torment.
HELL, when translated from the
Greek word HADES, means something very different.
- We have to often learn which
Greek word is used so we do not confuse the very real place of fire and
torment after this life with the other term.
- HADES means the GRAVE.
So when Jesus said that the gates
of THE GRAVE would not prevail against the church built on the rock, HE
IS SAYING THERE IS A POWER OF RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD involved in
the church's position on the rock.
If death's gates cannot lock people
in and hold them back, that means they experience resurrection from
death!
And that is the reason that Jesus
speaks of suffering, dying and rising from the dead after he mentioned
this.
If Peter had gotten the words of
Jesus, He would not have screamed for Jesus to forget about dying
because he would not have been worried about his own neck in facing
death due to FOLLOWING JESUS.
- He would have realized that
JUST AS THE ROCK'S STABILITY IS SHARED BY THE HOUSE BUILT UPON IT, HIS
OWN RESURRECTION POWER THAT CAN BREAK THROUGH THE GATES OF GRAVES THAT
TRY TO HOLD HIM BACK IS SHARED BY THE CHURCH BUILT UPON HIM.
When you know Jesus has power over
death in resurrection glory, and you are built on Him, then you also
share that power against death that is called resurrection.
AIN'T NO GRAVE GOING TO HOLD MY
BODY DOWN!
Matthew
16:23 KJV But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me,
Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things
that be of God, but those that be of men.
And after Jesus said THOU ART
PETER, when Peter got the first revelation from the Father, Jesus calls
him SATAN!
Notice the story has now taken a
turn to refer once again to IDENTITIES just as the story began with
Peter getting a revelation of JESUS' IDENTITY.
And this point of identities is
very important.
Jesus did not speak to him as
though he was PETER.
- The person to whom he said,
"Thou art Peter," is now referred to as satan.
- AN OFFENCE.
- This idea of OFFENCE is very
important too.
- Recall that when Peter spoke
of Jesus as a ROCK, he called Him the cornerstone upon which the church
is built, but a rock of offence to those who are disobedient at his
word.
- Peter was becoming an offence
to the one who is an offence to the disobedient.
- Peter stumbled at the word.
- When you strike the
cornerstone the wrong way and stumble, it strikes you as well.
- And a rock of offence to you
is something to which you likewise become an offence.
- But when you agree with the
Rock, you are a complement to it and it is a complement to you!
Peter resisted the things that be
of God.
- He resisted the NEED FOR
death so that resurrection would follow.
And just as Jesus compared how His
resurrection power against the grave is shared by the church built on
top of Him as the church's foundation, Jesus speaks of how THEY MUST
TAKE UP CROSSES as He would do when He would die.
Matthew
16:24-26 KJV Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me. (25) For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:
and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
(26) For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul?
YOU MUST FOLLOW HIM.
- Peter knew that, and that is
why He told Jesus to forget about going to Jerusalem and suffering and
dying.
- He knew he would experience
something similar if he followed Jesus.
- Jesus pierced through his
fake concern for Jesus and stated plainly that they all must indeed
take up their crosses and follow Him.
- They must deny themselves.
In fact, Jesus said some of them
would not taste death by taking up their crosses then, but would taste
it later when He would come in destruction.
Matthew
16:27-28 KJV For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his
Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to
his works. (28) Verily I say unto you, There be some
standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of
man coming in his kingdom.
This is not speaking of the future
coming of Jesus that we anticipate today in our time of 2009.
- This is speaking of the time
when those people were still alive.
- Jesus actually repeated his
thought from verse 25 when he said if we do not take up our cross and
die spiritually now in self denial, from which we can resurrect, we
will die permanently later on.
- If they would not taste death
by the cross of self denial in order to resurrect and find their lives
again, they would taste it in AD70 when destruction would come during
their lifetimes, but they would not resurrect from that death.
He was saying some of you will not
deny yourselves now, and die spiritually, but will die later in a death
from which you cannot get your life back again.
This is precisely what Jesus
referred to in Matthew 21.
Matthew
21:40-45 KJV When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what
will he do unto those husbandmen? (41) They say unto him,
He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his
vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in
their seasons. (42) Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never
read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same
is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is
marvellous in our eyes? (43) Therefore say I unto you, The
kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing
forth the fruits thereof. (44) And whosoever shall fall on
this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will
grind him to powder. (45) And when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
Notice the LORD COMES and the THE
STONE IS A STONE OF DESTRUCTION, and the pharisees knew Jesus spoke of
this happening to them in their lifetimes.
Some references to HIS COMING do
not refer to the future coming, but to a coming 2000 years ago in
destruction against Jerusalem.
Referring to the ROCK and KNOWING
JESUS, notice this:
Matthew
7:21-24 KJV Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. (22) Many will say to me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name
have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
(23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart
from me, ye that work iniquity. (24) Therefore whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a
wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Notice these people HAVE A
REVELATION OF WHO JESUS IS.
- The Father gives that.
- But when Jesus refers to them
not KNOWING HIM, and telling them to depart since they are workers of
iniquity, he explains it by saying THEY DO NOT HEAR THESE SAYINGS OF
HIS.
- They got a revelation from
the Father, but when Jesus said, "AND I SAY ALSO UNTO YOU," they did
not get that revelation from the Son.
- So they ARE NOT ON A ROCK.
- THEY ARE NOT IN HIS CHURCH
BUILT ON A ROCK.
- THEY CANNOT BREAK THROUGH
GATES OF DEATH.
The reason the gates of the grave
cannot prevail against the church on the rock is because WHEN YOU DENY
YOURSELF AND FOLLOW JESUS WITH YOUR CROSS, YOU MAY DIE BUT FIND YOUR
LIFE AGAIN.
- Finding your life again means
RESURRECTION!
- And you do not resurrect by
breaking through the gates of the grave if you refuse to taste death by
taking up your cross now.
- And the reason he calls them
workers of iniquity is because they have not DENIED THEMSELVES and
CRUCIFIED THE FLESH.
- When you take up your cross
and deny yourself, you are killing out that power that causes you to
commit iniquity.
Jesus said this after speaking
about FRUIT and FALSE PROPHETS.
And when Paul spoke of fruit of the
Spirit and works of the flesh, he also said something that goes right
along with this.
Galatians
5:24 KJV And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with
the affections and lusts.
And Paul said something else to
Timothy in a chapter about resurrection and those who say it won't
happen.
2
Timothy 2:18-19 KJV Who concerning the truth have erred, saying
that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of
some. (19) Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let
every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
Like Matt 7, we see a
FOUNDATION/ROCK.
- Like Matt 7, we see THE LORD
KNOWING ONLY CERTAIN ONES.
- Like Matt 7, we see the
reference to INIQUITY.
All three points of a rock
foundation, knowing, and iniquity are seen in these two chapters.
And putting Matt 7 together with 2
Tim 2, we get this overall product of understanding:
- If you are on the rock, you
have departed from iniquity, since you denied yourself and crucified
the flesh with its lusts that causes you to commit iniquity, THE LORD
KNOWS YOU.
And the wonderful experience is
that you got the first revelation AND KNOW WHO JESUS IS.
- And you got the second
revelation, and JESUS KNOWS YOU.
- This term KNOW is intimate.
- It is a man and wife
relationship.
- And the way you are intimate
with Jesus in SPIRIT, is when you become one spirit in dying with Him,
being buried with Him and resurrecting with Him.
Recall that I spoke of the
importance of IDENTITIES when we read where Jesus called Peter "satan".
- Jesus said THOU ART PETER.
- Then when Peter missed the
revelation, Jesus called him SATAN.
- Jesus tells people who do not
hear these sayings of His, I NEVER KNEW YOU.
We need to know Jesus, by getting a
revelation from the Father about His identity.
- Then Jesus needs to KNOW US,
when we get a revelation FROM THE SON that shows Him OUR IDENTITY.
WHEN WE UNITE TO JESUS in a
spiritual marriage by dying and resurrecting with Him, WE TAKE UPON US
HIS IDENTITY.
- But when we reject the
revelation of OUR NEED TO DIE AND HAVE OUR CROSSES, we take on the
IDENTITY OF THE FALSE SPIRIT - Satan.